1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for inputting and displaying data related to the service of an electronic device, and more particularly, to a method for automatically storing information on the first date that an electronic device is used after purchase, for purposes of verifying the warranty period of the electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the event that an abnormality occurs in product quality during a predetermined warranty period, a supplier customarily repairs the defective product or replaces the same with a new one free of charge.
In servicing the defective product, in order to check whether the product is under its warranty period, a label or tag is fixed on a written guarantee or an outer surface of the product and the purchase date of the product is written thereon by vendors. However, vendors seldom write the purchase date on the written guarantee, label or tag. Also, even when vendors write the purchase date, customers may often lose the written guarantee, label or tag indicating the purchase date.
A problem occurs because some customers intentionally discard the written guarantee and request free servicing, even if the warranty period has expired. Although improper, this practice is quite common in practice.
Most Korean domestic suppliers of electronic appliances and products render a two-year warranty period. Also, since customers seldom hold the written guarantee, it is a customary practice to grant a 30-month warranty period from the manufacturing date. However, even if the 30-month warranty period has elapsed, in order to avoid a dispute with customers who insist on a warranty, free servicing is customarily rendered. Therefore, the product suppliers incur unplanned costs in connection with these extra servicing expenses. Also, in determining the warranty period, disputes with customers frequently occur, which impairs the establishment and maintenance of good relationships with customers.
To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for automatically storing information that identifies the date when a product is used for the first time after a customer purchases the product.
Accordingly, to achieve the above object, there is provided a method for storing service information of an electronic device for receiving an input signal containing data of the present date, including the steps of (a) determining whether a predetermined command is input to a controller of the electronic device, (b) if it is determined in step (a) that the predetermined command is input, separating data of the present date contained in the input signal, (c) determining whether initial data is present in an area for storing date data out of the service information stored in a memory, and (d) only if it is determined in step (c) that the initial data is present, storing the data of the present date in the date data area.